I Hate Being Short
by UnwieldyInk
Summary: Solangelo Week- Day 5- Tol/Smol / Just a short oneshot about one of the most common difficulties with below average height!


Will pulled the thread through slowly, watching a small portion of the wound disappear. Lou Ellen had somehow managed to get herself a huge gash in her arm, which she claimed came from Cecil. It had mostly stopped bleeding, but leaving it open would've been too great a risk to infection, so Will was sewing it up- and taking his time with it, too. The longer he was working on a patient, the longer he could cast subtle glances at Nico without disturbing him from his current mellow state. Lou Ellen, knowing this, just rolled her eyes and let Will sew her up slower than a snail.

When Nico had first agreed to help Will out in the infirmary, claiming that "he had nothing better to do", Will had been ecstatic. Kayla had described him as an 'overexcited four-year-old', the way he'd been running around, convinced to show Nico every inch of the infirmary. Now, though, things had mellowed out. Will was used to Nico's presence, Nico knew his way around the building pretty well. At first, Will had been disappointed, but then he realized that he could use this opportunity to watch the wild Nico di Angelo in its natural habitat. Because, yeah, Nico did act differently when he thought no one was looking.

Like now, when he was cutting bandages silently, clearly deep in thought. His eyebrows were furrowed, the scissors were gliding through the cloth seemingly without Nico even thinking about it, and his mouth was slack, a stark contrast to his usual scowl or the way he pressed his lips together when determined to keep his composure. It was all that Will could do to keep himself from sighing loudly like the lovesick fool that he was.

And he would've gone on that way, except, when he pulled the needle out of Lou Ellen's arm once again, it snapped in half in his palm. Will swore under his breath; he knew he should've grabbed a new one. Quickly untying the thread and pulling it out from the eye of the needle, Will cleared his throat.

"Uh, Nico?" he asked. Nico blinked himself out of the thoughtful trance he'd been in and turned to Will, eyebrows raised. "Can you go get me another needle? This one broke."

"Okay." Nico stood up. "Storeroom?"

Will nodded, and Nico slipped out of the room.

"So…" Lou Ellen said. "You and him, huh?"

Will blushed. "What about us?"

"You like each other."

Will scoffed. "I mean, you know _I_ like _him_ ," he told her, fumbling to get a cloth. "I seriously doubt the other way around."

Lou stared at him for a minute. "I don't."

Will froze. "I- well-" He forced out a nervous laugh. "Wh-Whatever you say." He glanced up at the door. "Jeez, what's taking him so long, anyways?"

"Mm. Maybe he got lost." Lou Ellen started to examine her nails on her non-injured arm. "Maybe you should go find him. And maybe, y'know, you could sneak him into one of the back rooms, and-"

" _Lou_."

She grinned at Will and shrugged. "Just an idea."

Will shook his head, pressing the cloth to Lou's half-stitched-up wound. "I am going to go find him, though. Maybe he couldn't find the needles. Hold that." He gestured to the cloth, and Lou held it in place herself as Will stood.

"Have fun," she called after him, sounding vaguely amused.

Will flipped her off as he closed the door behind him.

Nico was in the storeroom, Will found, exactly where he needed to be. And he had indeed located the box of needles Will needed. The problem was that the box was on the second-to-top shelf- one that Nico couldn't reach. He was stretching upwards, his fingers just barely brushing the front of the box. Will didn't fail to notice the sliver of skin shown off by Nico's lifted shirt. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.

"Need some help there?"

Nico whirled around, scowling at Will's smirk. "No."

Will raised his eyebrows. "You _sure_?"

"I can get it!" Nico turned back around and reached up again, but couldn't quite grab the box. Frustrated, Nico put one foot on the first shelf, then the other foot, and hauled himself up. Now, though, he was depending on his arms to hold him in place, and so could only spare short swipes at the box.

Will couldn't help but laugh slightly at the absurd picture. "You're gonna break the shelf."

"I got it," Nico grunted.

Will stepped forward, holding his arms out preemptively. "Nico, c'mon. Just let me."

"No, I-" Nico tried to climb up unto the second shelf, now, but the gap was much larger than the gap between the first shelf and the floor, and his foot slipped. He fell backwards, yelping out a curse in Ancient Greek. Will caught him under the arms, laughing, and Nico groaned, finding his footing again and shoving Will off. "I hate being short."

Will patted a hand on Nico's head patronizingly, earning a growl. He then stepped forward and, with minimal standing on his toes, grabbed the box.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and show off," Nico grumbled, crossing his arms. "But if you ever pat me like that again, you'll be coughing up bone dust for weeks, Doctor Sunshine."

Will patted him again. "No I won't," he said with a grin. "Now let's go. I have a patient waiting for me."

Nico rolled his eyes, following Will out of the room.


End file.
